


The Clan: Zero to One

by mint03



Series: The Clan Universe [1]
Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen, Swearing, Violence, umm not too brutal i guess?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-17
Updated: 2019-01-17
Packaged: 2019-10-11 15:42:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17449736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mint03/pseuds/mint03
Summary: A somewhat linear, straightforward attempt at telling the story from All In, to Fighter, to Beautiful. Because I don't think we're ever going to get the full story from Starship.I wouldn't really call this a 'fanfic' as I would just a story. I won't be focusing on pairings, and the characters are the fictional versions the members played in the MVs; ie, I'm writing them as "characters" and not so much the members themselves, if that makes sense.ANYWAYS; one day, a mysterious stranger appears in the village. He calls himself "Zero," and blue energy runs through his veins. Hyunwoo finds himself entwined in an unknown fate as the Blue Plant continues to grow and reach out for others, still.





	The Clan: Zero to One

A universe is a relationship. Millions of relationships reaching out to form bridges; connections. Networks and structures transmitting to a landscape of more universes. Atoms are solar systems. Neurons are galaxies. We’re all a part of one, but we’ve got millions inside of us. Infinite directions and possibilities, and a point of zero that ties us together.

 

She said this to me.

 

You’re a universe. You’re a beginning. You don’t belong here.

 

But I wanted to belong somewhere.

 

You’re a Zero Point.

 

* * *

 

Vow of One

We bet our minds and bodies; our entire beings. We swear by blood and by bond to protect what will come next.

One, we will find what we have lost. One, we will fill the vast emptiness of our hearts. One, we will find the path that will move us forward. One, no one will be left behind.

We will become one and protect the Clan.

I, One, will protect my family.

 

* * *

 

A crack erupted at the edge of the forest. A low humming bounced around the trees. Dull thumps reverberated amongst them. The sound picked up higher in tension, and the rhythmic thumps mimicked a heartbeat. Light gathered at the center of a clearing, growing brighter as the sounds reached a peak.

Four figures burst from the gathering of light, darkness once again enveloping the forest as soon as they appeared.

One of them stepped forward, at the head of the group. Their leader was a boy with vibrant red hair. He lifted up a hand, veins making their way to the surface of the skin on his arm. An electric blue shot through them, beads of light pulsing forward, gathering at his fingertips and flashing through his pale skin.

The light beneath his skin pulsed towards the small town lying in wait before them.

“Someone’s here,” he said, pointing at the cluster of buildings.

“A friend.”

 

* * *

 

 

“A friend?”

“Yes,” said the stranger in front of him, smile showcasing the deep dimples he had nestled into both of his cheeks.

“I’m sorry, I think you’re confused,” said Hyunwoo, diligently at work chopping the wood in front of him. He held the axe with great stability and hardly even glanced at the boy in front of him. They were in the middle of a clearing in front of the run down shed he called a home. Large logs lay besides the stump he used to chop wood. “I’ve never met you before. I would know.”

The stranger continued to stand there as he chopped away, refusing to leave him alone after his short reply.

After a dozen more chops, Hyunwoo finally relented and dropped the axe besides him, wiping the sweat from his forehead with the back of his palm. He wasn’t one to turn away others, even if they were complete strangers.

“Look, kid, I really don’t think I know you,” said Hyunwoo, tossing the chopped wood over to a large pile behind him.

“You’re not that much older than me,” replied the boy.

Hyunwoo scrunched up his nose at the quick response. He was right, though. From the looks of it he was probably only two or three years older than the stranger.

“Yeah, well, I feel older than I am I guess,” he replied.

“And I’m a lot older than I look,” said the boy with a short laugh, “At least I think so.”

He continued to stand in the middle of Hyunwoo’s workplace without budging. He held a hand out in greeting.

“I’m Zero.”

Hyunwoo dropped down onto the wooden stump he had been working on and breathed out a deep sigh of exhaustion. Sweat dripped down toned muscles and sun-kissed skin, making marks on his old, ragged shirt. Even sitting, he was almost as tall as the boy in front of him. His broad shoulders and scarred hands told a story of endless hard work and determination. Short, cropped black hair and dark grey eyes gave him an image of seriousness and edge, when in reality he was one of the most honest, dependable, and gullible people in town.

He reached forward to shake the stranger’s hand.

“I’m Hyunwoo,” he said, still unsure about the newcomer’s aura. The boy was more than just “strange.” He couldn’t put a word to how he would describe him. Zero felt like someone who didn’t belong here at all; but at the same time, familiar. His inclination was to trust anyone before doubting them as long as they weren’t part of the Chapel, but with Zero he really couldn’t feel at ease.

The boy continued to smile. Thin, hazel eyes curved upwards as if he was constantly laughing at the world around him. They made Hyunwoo feel uncertain.

“I remember you,” he said, “You’re the one I was looking for in the beginning! I found some of the others before you, but that’s okay—you’re here now.” His tone was excited; like that of a child’s. His words conveyed innocence, but Hyunwoo couldn’t help but feel a sense of eeriness.

“I’m pretty sure you’ve got the wrong guy,” he replied, “We’ve never met.”

“Regardless, I am a friend,” said Zero, placing his hands in his pockets, “And I can sense that this place…” his eyes traced the backdrop of Hyunwoo’s home and surroundings, “…hasn’t been too kind to you.”

“This place isn’t kind to anyone,” said Hyunwoo, “You would know that if you were from around here.” He raised an eyebrow. “Where _are_ you from, exactly?”

“We can save that topic for next time,” Zero replied, withdrawing something from his pocket and holding the object out to him. “I’m here to help.”

Without thinking, Hyunwoo reached out for his hand. It was some sort of plant; size and shape completely unfamiliar to him, and the color of a clear sky he’d only seen a few times as a child. It was pretty, but pretty things didn’t last long in the village.

“What is this?” he asked, examining the plant in his hands. It was a small branch, barely longer than his outstretched fingers.

“Something that will lead you to me,” said Zero, returning his hand to his pocket, “When you want to.”

“And why would I want to?”

Zero shrugged.

“That’s up to you.”

His expression was almost wistful.  

“Well, I’ll keep it in mind,” he said, pocketing the flower. There was no harm in keeping a plant.

“I can tell you’re more settled in here than the others, so I’m not going to push you to join me too quickly; but I’ll stick around until you do. Plus,” he closed his eyes for a moment, “I feel the remainder of our friends are here as well.”

Zero left as quickly as he had appeared. Hyunwoo sat there alone on his stump, still puzzled at the interaction he had just had.

“Strange,” he said, before getting up with a grunt and heading back into the shed.

The rest of the day went as usual. He pushed thoughts of strange smiling boys and mysterious plants to the back of his head as he went about with his tasks. Now that Grandpa was in the hospital, he had to take on all the menial chores himself, along with the mechanical work and deliveries.

_“Regardless, I’m a friend.”_

The words repeated in his mind as he screwed in the parts of an old oil lamp a neighbor had brought in for repair.

He couldn’t even remember the last time he had thought of someone as a ‘friend.’ He mostly just hung out with his grandfather, and everyone else in the village was too busy just trying to survive to really spend leisurely time with one another.

_‘Back when mom and dad were around I used to hang out with those two a lot,’_ thought Hyunwoo, remembering the faces of two young boys. They had completely contrasting appearances; one with a messy head of black hair and the other with white. One was always sleepy, while the other was full of more energy than could be spent in one outing.

_‘Hyungwon, Minhyuk…’_ he thought, hammering away at the metal beneath his hands. _‘I wonder what they’re up to.’_

He hadn’t understood it well as a child, but the two of them had certain circumstances that made it only possible to play at the very edges of the village, in the forest bordering the neighboring town. Every night, Minhyuk would slip into the next village; something the Chapel very much did not allow, and Hyungwon would wave goodbye with sleepy eyes and walk back into the populated areas of the village with Hyunwoo.

As they got older, they just started seeing each other less. In the village they lived in, there just wasn’t room for happiness after childhood. Hyunwoo would backtrack sometimes if he ever saw a flash of white hair go bye, but he was mostly confined to his family’s repair shop during the day. He didn’t even know if Minhyuk could come into the village now, since the Chapel had fenced off the forest quite some time ago. Up until a couple years ago he’d keep close watch while making deliveries in town for a familiar yawn or mess of black hair, but couldn’t seem to ever find Hyungwon among the villagers.

He was probably just as busy as Hyunwoo was. Making a living. Just trying to survive.

There was no time to think about “friends.”

 

* * *

 

 

"I take it he didn't trust you."

Keen eyes turned towards the entrance of the shambled greenhouse. Zero ran fingers through his hair and picked out a blue leaf from between the flaming locks. With a grin, he let it glide to the ground.

"He will eventually." 

Beneath his feet were rows of freshly turned soil, small mounds of dirt making a dotted X on the ground. 

"You all did, after all."

The boy closest to him rolled his eyes, putting away rusted shovels and pots. "I wouldn't call it trust so much as an ultimatum," he muttered. He had short, mousy brown hair and brown eyes; sharp, and conveying an expression of constant disappointment. 

"I trust you," said another boy, situated at the back of the greenhouse. He had dragged several pieces of scrap metal into a corner and was holding a small welding torch in his hand. Large goggles covered his face, and strands of blonde hair hung over the top at mismatched angles. He didn't even seem to be paying attention to them.

"You'd trust anyone who so much as gave you a screwdriver," retorted the mousy boy with a frown. 

"Aww, Three." The other boy flipped up his goggles to reveal stark blue eyes, "You remembered." 

"How's the plant?" asked Zero, crouching down to examine the dirt. "Did you make a mess?"

The boy called Three scoffed.

"I never make a mess." 

"Now that is actually true," said the boy in the corner, flipping his goggles back down. "Even I wouldn't lie about that." 

Zero stood back up and looked around the greenhouse. Large pieces of glass that had fallen from the walls had been pushed to the sides, and the holes patched up crudely with sheets of metal. Two's doing, he could assume. Several blankets and a few sets of clothes had been tossed in a pile, probably scavenged from abandoned houses. 

"Where's Four?" he asked.

"Oh, you know," said Three, beginning to water the mounds of dirt. "He found a frog out back and didn't want to play with it inside. It's probably dead by now." 

And as if on queue, another boy entered the greenhouse, right behind Zero. He was slightly smaller than him, and definitely tanner. His dark brown hair was matted with mud, and his eyes were an unnaturally bright green. 

"Zero!" he exclaimed, dirty hands reaching to grab his arm. "Did you find One?" 

"Four, don't make him dirty!" yelled Three, walking over to the two with a rag in hand. "This world doesn't have a laundromat like the last one!" He started wiping the dirt off the boy's hands.

"I did," said Zero, eyes lighting up. "And Six and Seven. They're all here! Isn't that great?"

Two halted his welding at the new information, putting his tools down. "All of them?"

"But that's never happened before," said Three. "Are you sure?"

Zero's eyes narrowed at the comment.

"I'm sure," he said, voice tinged with annoyance. Three took a step back, jostling Four in the process. 

But his expression quickly returned to his mischievous smile.

"I'm sure," he repeated, twirling a small blue flower between his fingers.

"I'd never forget a friend." 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for trying this little story out! I've been sitting on this for a long time. I have sooooo many pages of notes. It's essentially the storyline from All In, to Fighter, and then to Beautiful, with me filling in the gaps with whatever my mind could make up. There will be some original characters, but the focus will be on the 7 boys. It doesn't 100% match up (mostly their appearances, since they did change them in every MV), but I did my best! I was initially trying to make a novel series out of this but I just love Monsta X too much and wanted to share it with everyone.


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